1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for automatically mounting electronic parts on a printed circuit board.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese published unexamined patent application 6-85492 discloses an electronic-parts mounting apparatus which handles electronic parts (electronic components) carried on a tape. The apparatus of Japanese application 6-85492 includes an electronic-parts feeder having a cassette for feeding taped electronic parts one by one. The apparatus of Japanese application 6-85492 also includes a mounting head provided with a sucking nozzle for picking up electronic parts (electronic components) from the carrier tape one by one. The sucking nozzle holds the picked-up electronic component. The mounting head is movably supported by a first drive shaft. The first drive shaft is movably connected with a second drive shaft. The first drive shaft and the second drive shaft are perpendicular to each other. The mounting head can move along an X direction and a Y direction perpendicular to each other. The sucking nozzle and the mounting head cooperate to receive electronic components from the electronic-parts feeder one by one, and to carry each of the electronic components to a specified position relative to a printed circuit board. The electronic components are mounted on the printed circuit board one by one.
The apparatus of Japanese application 6-85492 further includes an electronic-parts recognizing section which detects conditions of an electronic component held by the sucking nozzle. Specifically, the electronic-parts recognizing section detects a positional error between the electronic component and the sucking nozzle. The detected positional error is used in correcting the positioning of the electronic component relative to the printed circuit board by the mounting head.
The apparatus of Japanese application 6-85492 mounts electronic parts (electronic components) on a printed circuit board one by one. Accordingly, the speed or rate of mounting one electronic component tends to be low.
Japanese published unexamined patent application 7-202491 discloses an electronic-parts mounting apparatus which includes a mounting head having a plurality of sucking nozzles arranged along a circle. The mounting head is intermittently rotated. The sucking nozzles pick up electronic parts (electronic components) supplied by an electronic-parts feeder. The sucking nozzles hold the picked-up electronic parts. The apparatus of Japanese application 7-20202491 also includes an XY table supporting a printed circuit board. The XY table can move an X direction and a Y direction perpendicular to each other. The printed circuit board moves together with the XY table. As the mounting head is rotated, each of the electronic parts held by the sucking nozzles is carried to a specified position relative to the printed circuit board. The electronic parts are mounted on the printed circuit board. The apparatus of Japanese application 7-202491 further includes an electronic-parts recognizing section which detects conditions of an electronic component held by each sucking nozzle.
The apparatus of Japanese application 7-202491 tends to be expensive and large in size.